I've never wrote a thank you thread to an entire game dev team before; that the game was developed through the efforts of a single person makes it easier to do so, and all the more impressive to me. I felt compelled to do exactly that however so a big 'this game is awesome, thank you for making it!' to you sir and now I'll ramble on about what I love about this game!

(A warning to those who have not played - there are minor spoilers below).

The graphics are excellent. They endear me to the game world and give it it's own personality. That every person I meet has a name and face (even though characters that are not essential to the plot) instead of just 'Guard' is unique to me as well. I love the background animations and effort that went into creating the world a few points really stood out for me. The Cultists who gave themselves to the Crone - how they would walk past you while you were fighting the demons instead of helping infurated me (those pretenious BASTARDS!). The military outpost of long reach with army troops marching in formation and the Forests in chapter 7 with the mire and mists everywhere. All wonderfully done.

The character's animations and facial expressions I like as well. As Mericious, Charolette, and Denever have been my choices for the first play through I like all of them (Mericious especially) and the portraits remind me of the Final Fantasy series. The character interactions with each other are believable too - they don't seem to be made of paper. I became a quick fan of Mericious in particular - as I used to be a devout Catholic who has had to deal with some difficult questions in recent years (and some of the answers were ones that surprised me). I had read that you wondered if you got that character concept right - I'd like to tell you that I certainly think you did! The most touching moment was him praying when waking up in the tavern (chapter 6 I believe).

The musical score is beautiful and I've not stopped listening to it for the past 3 months since I bought the entire collection. Urtat the Unbeatable is my favoriate track (I believe that is the name), although I enjoy all of them (they keep me occupied at work).

Combat is incredible. It is actually challenging (rare that I find a game a challenge these days) and I find myself wishing that while I could just have the characters use the skill chains I developed I must adapt to each individual battle as they are all difficult to beat (even the non-boss battles). Some party chains though have seen me through entire battles and I always feel so proud of myself for coming up with them.

On that note the enemy creatures are well thought out and have forced me to recognize what they do and react appropriately. The mimics in the forest stand out in my mind as one of the most dynamic - teaching me how to 'mix up' my tactics based on the damage I needed to do and absorb as well. The snow... totem... thingies were another that confused me at first until I realized they only struck the player in the back of my line - this helped me cycle the Auroa shielded party member back there when I encountered them.

If I was to complain about anything it's that the game is so wonderful that it is over too quickly. I am at chapter 7 and judging from my level I can tell I have one or two more chapters to go; which is a shame, as I'd like this to go on for pretty much three times the length or more! (I have 'started over' with the same characters 3 times now before beating the game as I just want to experience it over and over again and perfect my skill chains!) I realize this is me being selfish however and doesn't detract from the experience at all - it's just that good that even 40 hours of play would leave me wanting more.

And now a question if I may. I wish to purchase this game for some friends of mine as a Christmas gift. I do not recall a 'gift' option during my sign up months ago for the game - am I able to buy it and use my friends eMail as the recipient?

Again, hats off to you Mark. This has been a joy to play.

(EDIT: As I suffer from partial dyslexia sometimes I make typos - fixed them all I hope!)

Last edited by Galvin on Thu Nov 20, 2008 3:55 pm; edited 4 times in total

It is wonderful to hear that you are enjoying the game this much Galvin, and I thank you for taking the time to make this heart-warming post. Such responses make the long and difficult process of development worthwhile, and are what I believe every developer hopes for.

Regarding gifts, I think that specifying an alternate email would work fine, though there may be a short delay for some free addresses like Yahoo. Unfortunately there are no more appealing methods of delivery at the moment - the CD option from BMT Micro has only functional packaging as far as I am aware.